Duong Van Minh

Duong Van Minh (16 February 1916-6 August 2001) was Chairman of the Military Revolutionary Council of South Vietnam from 2 November 1963 to 30 January 1964 (succeeding Ngo Dinh Diem and preceding Nguyen Khanh), from 8 February to 16 August 1964 (interrupting Khanh's terms), and from 8 September to 26 October 1964 (succeeding Khanh and preceding Phan Khac Suu), as well as President of South Vietnam from 28 to 30 April 1975 (succeeding Huynh Tan Phat).

Biography
Duong Van Minh was born in Tien Giang Province, French Indochina in 1916, the son of a wealthy landlord. He served in the French Army during World War II and was tortured by the Japanese invaders, who plucked out his teeth. During the First Indochina War, he fought against the Viet Minh and was imprisoned again, but he later managed to escape. In 1955, he led the State of Vietnam's army in clearing Saigon of the Binh Xuyen gang, and he became popular among the people, although the new President of South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem, responded by putting him in a powerless position, seeing him as a threat. In 1963, Minh led a military coup against the unpopular Diem, killing him and his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu. However, General Nguyen Khanh ousted Minh months later due to his disappointment at not receiving a position promised to him. Minh was periodically named the official head of the military junta, but Khanh exercised the real power in the junta. In 1971, Minh withdrew from the presidential race against Nguyen Van Thieu after Thieu rigged the polls. In April 1975, he became president for two days after Thieu resigned, but he surrendered to the North Vietnamese as they overran the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon. Minh was sent to re-education camps for eight years before being allowed to emigrate to the United States in 1983, settling in Pasadena, California. He died there in 2001 at the age of 85.